production and business methods in the integral knitting supply chain

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AUTEX Research Journal, Vol. 8, No4, December 2007 © AUTEXThe reduction of manufacturing processes does not, by itself, improve the time from yarn to readymade garment delivered in the shop as much as would be desired.Mattilla states [9]: “The main reasons for long lead times are the several non-value-adding activitiesthroughout the supply pipeline. These are the kind of activities that could be reduced or eliminatedtotally without reducing the total value added to the product.”The complete garment concept is implemented in a ‘fast-to-the-market’ supply chain, where all parts ofthe pipeline are focused on short lead times and quick response in order to fulfil customer demand asquickly as possible. This could be done by responding directly when the garment is bought in theshop. The buy generates a new order for a replenishment that is communicated throughout the wholesupply chain in order to plan for all the production and transportation activities that need to be carriedout. A key issue is the raw material, in this case the yarn, for the garment to be knitted in. Longdelivery times for yarn must be avoided when it comes to the production of ‘fast-to-the-market’garments. Logistics systems such as postponement - where you knit all the garments in “greige” or“raw-white” and then postpone dyeing of the garment as late as possible in the pipeline - is onemethod available. Another way is to work with a “standard set” of yarns, where the knitting company orthe yarn supplier companies keep yarns in stock in order to be able to respond quickly.4.2. Manufacturing lead times - reduction of processesThe complete garment technology makes it possible to reduce the number of manufacturingprocesses in the production of a knitted garment. Cutting and sewing, as post-knitting processes in atraditional production line of knitted garments, are not needed in this complete garment technology.The garment comes ready made straight out of the knitting machine. However, some post-knittingprocesses could be required. These processes consist of some complementary operations such ascutting loose thread ends, sewing of labels and steaming of the garment to attain the right quality. Thisenables the time “from yarn to ready-made garment” to be shortened considerably, not only by the factthat the post-knitting processes are eliminated to a large extent, but also because several non-valueaddedactivities are also eliminated. These non-value-added activities are waiting time or time fortransportation between the cutting and sewing processes, which are eliminated by the fact that theseprocesses are eliminated.4.3. PostponementPostponement, or delayed configuration, is a method where common platforms, components ormodules are used and the final customisation is done as close to the point-of–sales as possible.Closer to the POS, customer demands are more known [10]. In a supply chain for knitted fashionproducts postponement could be a solution to satisfy both the customers demand for fast fashionchanges and the suppliers demand for a cost effective supply chain. The solution is to produce astandard product and then add an identity to the garment as late as possible in terms of delivery to thecustomer and the point-of-sales. A key issue is the raw material; in this case the yarn for the garmentto be knitted in. Long delivery times for the yarn must be avoided when it comes to the production of‘fast-to-the-market’ garments. With postponement, you knit all the garments in greige or “raw-white”and then postpone dyeing of the garment as late as possible, when you more exactly know whichcolours are most in demand in a given market. This technique has been used by the Italian fashioncompany Benetton for many years, and has the advantage that you only produce garments in coloursthat the customers want to buy. Another way is to work with a “standard set” of yarns, where theknitting company, or the yarn supplier company, keep yarns in stock in order to be able to respondquickly. Postponement will add another link in the chain to a successful business system for highfashion knitted products. Owing to the possibilities of the complete garment knitting technology theproduction of the products starts as close as possible to the point-of sales,. If the products are knitted“raw-white” and dyed in the last minute before delivery, the complete garment technology is combinedwith a postponement logistics effort to fulfil the retail demand for fast fashion.4.4. Mass CustomisationToday it is well known that analogue technologies are largely replaced by digital technologies,including in the business and production of textiles. The flat knitting industry is no exception in thisregard. Both product development and production in the complete garment technology are made usinghttp://www.autexrj.org/No4-2007/0219.pdf 271
AUTEX Research Journal, Vol. 8, No4, December 2007 © AUTEXdigital computer systems. Earlier production systems were built on large series of products with longruns. Today’s customers want immediate and personal service and, as Fralix states:“Just as the craft era was replaced by the era of mass production, mass production is being replacedby the era of Mass Customization” [11].Complete garment technology makes the garments seamless and enables mass customisation to beimplemented in the business of knitted high fashion products. Knitting technology, combined withmodern computer technology and a new business system offers a concept whereby it is possible tocustomise each garment and make “batch-one” manufacturing. The Japanese knitting machinecompany SHIMA SEIKI has a shop in Japan called “Factory Boutique” that works with a new conceptwhere the customers can look at samples and with the guidance of store staff design their ownproducts. The design CAD system enables the customer to get dressed in the garment virtually andalso have a printout before the garment is knitted. After this the garment can be knitted on the knittingmachines in the same building. Using these techniques the digital information kept as long as possiblein the supply chain and, in this case, the start of production after the point-of sales means that knittingmachines could for example be placed in a retailers shop [12].Another opportunity to customise a knitted garment is with the use of printing technology. Sweaterscould be complete garment knitted and printed after knitting. An example of this is the Japanesedesign company Grace International, which designs knit garment collections where the garments areknitted and then printed after knitting [13]. This technology opens up the possibility to combinepostponement with customisation by knitting complete garments in standard models and then as lateto the point-of-sales as possible provide each garment with a print. By combining these twotechniques it is possible to, upon request of the customer, put an individual identity to the garment aslate as after the point-of-sale. The knitting and printing could also be done in the retailer’s shop.4.5. Customer service levelIn the fashion business it is of utmost importance to keep the customer satisfied and ensure that thecustomer finds what he or she are looking for and that the demand for a product is fulfilled. In theorythis could be achieved by keeping all products in all sizes and colour combinations in stock at alltimes. However this is not realistic due to the fact that stock keeping costs money and the retailerwants to minimise the stock level to accomplish a higher stock-turnover in order to save money. Hereis where the business and the supply chain system of a company is of highest importance. Thelogistics system’s ability to respond quickly when a garment is registered as a sale in the shopdetermines the quantity of SKU in stock. If time of replenishment is long, the chances are higher thatanother customer wants to buy the same product or SKU and it is missing on the shelf. In order toavoid “lost sales” the retailer must keep more garments of the same SKU in stock to be sure that thecustomer finds the product he or she is searching for. If the replenishment systems respond veryquickly, the number of SKUs in the shop can be lower with a higher value of inventory turnover.Customer service level and Lost sales are listed by King and Hunter [14] as follows:Customer service level =Number of customers who find their first choice SKUTotal number of customer visits(2)which indicates the percentage of times a customer finds his or her first-choice stock keeping unitwhen shopping.Lost sales =Number of customer who find no SKU prefereceTotal number of customer visits(3)which indicates the percentage of times a customer finds none of his SKU preferences, i.e. their firstchoice, second choice, etc.Complete garment production implemented in a business together with a logistics quick responsesystem responds immediately when a buy is registered. This kind of system could fulfil the retailershttp://www.autexrj.org/No4-2007/0219.pdf 272
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